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Medical Assistant
Unit 1 Review (Chapters 1-4)
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ambulatory care | Healthcare provided on an outpatient basis; patients are not admitted overnight. |
| Administrative tasks (MA) | Office and front-desk duties such as scheduling, billing, and managing records. |
| Clinical tasks (MA) | Hands-on patient care duties such as taking vitals, drawing blood, and assisting with exams. |
| Home health agency | An organization that provides care to patients in their own homes; tends to involve monitoring and testing tasks for MAs. |
| Licensed vocational nurse (LVN) | A healthcare team member who shares many duties with MAs but typically does not perform administrative tasks or administer medications. |
| Patient care technician (PCT) | A team member whose duties overlap with MAs but who usually does not do administrative tasks or give medications. |
| EKG technician | A specialist who performs electrocardiograms; duties are narrower than an MA's. |
| Mid-level provider | A provider such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant; has prescribing and diagnostic authority beyond an MA. |
| Scope of practice | The responsibilities that fall within the knowledge, training, and legal definition of a profession. |
| Job description | A document listing the specific duties and expectations of a particular position at a particular employer. |
| Chain of command | The facility's hierarchy of reporting; concerns about coworkers or policies should be raised through this channel. |
| Delegation limits | The boundaries that determine which tasks may be legally and safely assigned to a given worker. |
| Patient-centered medical home (PCMH) | A care model that coordinates the care a patient receives from multiple providers. |
| Personability | A friendly, approachable manner; one of the characteristics of professionalism. |
| Honesty | Telling the truth, including reporting one's own mistakes — a key characteristic of professionalism. |
| Empathy | The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. |
| Discretion | Careful judgment about what to say or do, including protecting patient privacy. |
| MA certification | A credential awarded after completing a medical assisting course AND passing a certification exam. |
| Work-experience pathway (MA certification) | In some cases, prior work experience as an MA may be accepted in place of a formal training course. |
| Ethics | Standards of conduct that describe what people should do; based on values rather than enforceable rules. |
| Law | Enforceable rules that tell people what they must (or must not) do. |
| Hippocratic Oath | An ancient code of ethics historically sworn by physicians; an example of a professional code of ethics. |
| Patient Care Partnership | The document that replaced the American Hospital Association's 'Statement on a Patient's Bill of Rights.' |
| Dying Person's Bill of Rights | A document outlining the rights of patients near the end of life. |
| Affordable Care Act (ACA) | U.S. healthcare reform law; not a patient-rights document. |
| Informed consent (research) | Requires the provider to give a detailed explanation of a research study and disclose possible risks before a patient participates. |
| Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) | Federal law requiring facilities to inform patients about advance directives. |
| Advance directive | A written document stating a patient's wishes for future healthcare, including end-of-life care. |
| DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order | A written provider order instructing that CPR should not be performed if the patient stops breathing or has no pulse. |
| Preferred name and pronouns | The name and pronouns a patient asks to be addressed by; MAs must use them. |
| HIPAA | Federal law that keeps patients' health information private and secure. |
| Discretion (workplace) | Keeping patient information confidential; not sharing details about who you treat with friends or on social media. |
| Civil law | Law dealing with disputes between individuals; violations are called torts. |
| Tort | A violation of civil law (for example, malpractice or negligence). |
| Crime | A violation of criminal law. |
| Infraction | A minor violation of law, typically not classified as a tort or crime. |
| Patient abandonment | Withdrawal of care from a patient without proper notice or referral; potentially illegal. |
| Slander | Spoken false statements that harm a person's reputation. |
| Libel | Written or published false statements that harm a person's reputation. |
| Malpractice | Professional negligence — failure to provide the standard of care. |
| Standard of care | The level and type of care a reasonably prudent provider would give in the same circumstances. |
| Good Samaritan laws | State laws that protect people who voluntarily give emergency care from being sued for ordinary negligence. |
| Plaintiff | The person who brings a lawsuit. |
| Defendant | The person being sued or accused. |
| Arbiter | A person appointed to settle a dispute; not a party to the lawsuit. |
| Mediator | A neutral person who helps disputing parties reach agreement. |
| Res ipsa loquitur | 'The thing speaks for itself' — evidence (such as an unexpected injury after a procedure) that implies negligence occurred. |
| Respondeat superior | 'Let the master answer' — the principle that an employer may be held responsible for an employee's actions on the job. |
| Subpoena ad testificandum | A court order requiring a person to appear and testify. |
| Subpoena duces tecum | A court order requiring a person to bring specific documents or records to court. |
| Implied consent | Consent assumed in emergencies when the patient cannot express it (e.g., an unconscious patient needing life-saving care). |
| Express consent | Consent given clearly, verbally or in writing, for a specific procedure or treatment. |
| General consent form | A form signed at intake that covers routine care; the patient can still refuse any specific care. |
| Mature minor | A minor who may consent to some routine healthcare decisions (such as vaccines or birth control) without a parent. |
| Emancipated minor | A minor who is legally independent and can make all of their own healthcare decisions. |
| Wound of violence | An injury in which the patient's story is inconsistent with the injury; must be reported. |
| Conflict of interest | A situation in which a personal or financial relationship could affect professional judgment (e.g., referring patients to a spouse's practice without disclosure). |
| Mandatory reporting | Legal requirement to report suspected abuse; reports must be made immediately, regardless of consent. |
| Incident report | An internal facility document describing an unexpected event; used to improve quality and safety — NOT to assign blame or hide details. |
| Workers' compensation report | A report filed when an employee is injured on the job, in addition to the facility's incident report. |
| Communication process | A sender forms a message, sends it, the receiver receives it, and then provides feedback. |
| Feedback | The receiver's response that lets the sender know the message was understood. |
| Verbal communication | Communication using spoken or written words. |
| Nonverbal communication | Communication through facial expressions, body language, posture, and tone — which can contradict what a person says. |
| Therapeutic communication | Techniques that help patients feel heard and safe enough to share information. |
| Bias (in healthcare) | Pre-judging patients based on assumptions; can result in unequal documentation or treatment. |
| Cultural diversity | Differences among patients in culture, income, education, age, beliefs, and practices. |
| Language services | Interpretation or translation services used to make sure patients understand their care. |
| Eye contact (cultural) | A nonverbal cue that varies by culture; MAs should adjust their approach based on the patient's comfort. |
| Hearing accommodation | Communicating clearly, slowly, and face-to-face with patients who have a mild hearing impairment (NOT shouting). |
| Visual impairment accommodation | Speak first and identify yourself before touching a patient who is blind. |
| Mental health disorder communication | Use a normal tone of voice — not sing-song, commanding, or passive — when speaking to these patients. |
| Cognitive impairment (Alzheimer's) | Patients may repeat questions; respond each time using the same words and phrases for consistency. |
| Pediatric communication | Speak honestly with children in age-appropriate language; don't shame them or promise it won't hurt at all. |
| Intellectual disability (communication) | Treat the patient as an adult; do not assume they cannot understand their own care. |
| Aggressive communication | Hostile, dominating, or threatening speech — unprofessional and damaging to the team. |
| Assertive communication | Clear, respectful expression of concerns — the professional standard. |
| Passive communication | Avoiding conflict by not expressing needs or concerns; can lead to misunderstandings. |
| Slander (verbal abuse case) | Spoken false statements harmful to reputation; may also describe hostile verbal exchanges in the workplace. |
| Sign (clinical) | An objective indicator that the observer can see or measure (e.g., fever, pale skin, damp skin). |
| Symptom (clinical) | A subjective feeling reported by the patient (e.g., headache, lightheadedness, sinus pressure). |
| Objective reporting | Reporting exactly what was observed or what the patient said — without the MA's interpretation or diagnosis. |
| Maslow's hierarchy of needs | A pyramid ranking physiological needs (lowest), then safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization (highest). |
| Physiological need | Basic survival need such as food, water, sleep, and freedom from pain. |
| Psychosocial factors | Social, emotional, and psychological influences (such as stress or loneliness) that can affect physical health. |
| Erikson's stages of psychosocial development | A theory holding that each life stage involves a crisis that must be resolved (e.g., trust vs. mistrust in infancy). |
| Freud's theory of development | A psychosexual theory of development focused on early childhood stages. |
| Kübler-Ross stages of grief | Five stages — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance — that people may experience with loss or terminal illness. |
| Developmental disability | A disability that may be present at birth or emerge up to age 22. |
| Intellectual disability | Below-average intellectual functioning that affects daily and adaptive skills. |
| Down syndrome | A genetic condition associated with characteristic physical features and varying levels of intellectual disability. |
| Cerebral palsy | A developmental disability affecting movement, muscle coordination, and sometimes speech. |
| Autism spectrum disorder | A developmental disability that may include discomfort with eye contact and repetitive body movements. |
| Mental health | A state of well-being marked by the ability to adapt to change, cope with stress, and contribute to community. |
| Stress response (body) | The body's reaction to stress, including increased adrenaline and heart rate. |
| Stress tolerance | An individual's ability to manage stress; varies from person to person. |
| Defense mechanism | An unconscious psychological strategy used to protect the ego from anxiety. |
| Displacement | Redirecting feelings from the real source to a safer target (e.g., being angry at staff after a bad diagnosis). |
| Rationalization | Creating acceptable explanations for unacceptable feelings or behaviors. |
| Regression | Returning to behaviors of an earlier developmental stage (e.g., an anxious teen sucking a baby blanket). |
| Projection | Attributing one's own unacceptable feelings to someone else. |
| Chemical dependency | A physiological need for a substance; may require diagnosis and care by specialists. |
| Addiction | A compulsive need for and use of a substance despite harm; not the same as substance abuse and not a willpower problem. |
| Bipolar disorder | A mental health disorder involving extreme shifts between manic and depressive moods. |
| Social anxiety disorder | Intense fear of social situations. |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | Symptoms following trauma: anger, irritability, being easily startled, and difficulty sleeping. |
| Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) | Ongoing, excessive worry about many things. |
| Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) | Recurring unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) performed to ease anxiety. |
| Schizophrenia | A serious mental health disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. |
| Major depressive disorder | Persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest that interfere with daily life. |
| Mental health treatment | Most mental health disorders are treated with a combination of medication and therapy. |
| Stigma (mental health) | Negative attitudes that can prevent patients from seeking help; MAs should reduce stigma through supportive, non-judgmental care. |
Created by:
PJohnson85